Reports: Leafs, Flyers discuss Schenn-JVR trade

Could the Philadelphia Flyers be investigating bringing a brother act to the City of Brotherly Love?

TSN and the Philadelphia Daily News are reporting the Flyers and Toronto Maple Leafs have held discussions regarding Leafs defenseman Luke Schenn being part of a package coming to Philadelphia in exchange for forward James van Riemsdyk.

Schenn's younger brother, Brayden, is in his first season with the Flyers.

The Flyers reportedly have been in the market for a defenseman. Chris Pronger is out for the remainder of the season and the playoffs due to a concussion, and All-Star Kimmo Timonen is playing through a hand injury.

The Philadelphia Daily News has reported the Flyers' top target of interest is Predators defenseman Ryan Suter. Philadelphia will play in Nashville on Saturday, and Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren and Predators GM David Poile have a history of working well together. In 2007 they worked out a deal that saw the Flyers send Peter Forsberg to Nashville, and months later another trade that saw the Flyers acquire impending unrestricted free agents Scott Hartnell and Timonen. And in 2010 the Flyers acquired the negotiating rights to unrestricted free agent defenseman Dan Hamhuis from the Predators.

If Philadelphia can't make a deal with the Predators, the Flyers then could investigate a deal with the Leafs for Schenn.

The Philadelphia Daily News reported Friday that Holmgren and Maple Leafs GM Brian Burke have held discussions on a Schenn-van Riemsdyk deal, and added that Flyers Director of Player Development Don Luce has been a frequent visitor to Leafs home games.

Schenn, who has 12 points in 41 games, has seen his ice time drop from 22:22 last season to just 16:35 this season -- sixth among Leafs blueliners.

He also said he's heard the trade rumors, but it's not the first time he's heard his name mentioned in potential trade talks.

"In the 3 1/2 years that I've been here there has been a few rumors about trades that were going to happen," Schenn told the Toronto Star. "They come up every year somehow.

Adding fuel to the trade-rumor fire was Burke, who on Wednesday said on Toronto sports radio station 590 AM that he would consider what he called an "age-group asset trade."

"I do think there is room for age-group asset trades," Burke said. "If you trade a 22-year-old and get back a 22-year-old that plays a different position, that's an age-group asset trade. I'm not giving away any future; I'm making a bet on what it does for our team. That's a possibility."

Coincidentally, Schenn and van Riemsdyk each are 22 years old.

While Schenn could fill a role for the Flyers, van Riemsdyk could do the same in Toronto.

"I think we're a little small up front," Burke said. "We don't have much playoff experience."

Van Riemsdyk could fill both those roles. At 6-foot-3 and 200 pounds, the left wing certainly has good size. And in just three seasons, he has 32 games of playoff experience, including a trip to the 2010 Stanley Cup Final. He also had 7 goals in 11 playoff games last season.

Signed to a six-year contract extension earlier this season, van Riemsdyk hasn't quite lived up to expectations, scoring just 11 goals in 37 games, and with the emergence of rookie forwards Matt Read and Sean Couturier -- both of whom were named to the All-Star Game -- Holmgren could use van Riemsdyk as a trade chip in any potential deal.